Six is a Crowd
by Kirby-Chan263
Summary: Sonic Underground fic. Eventual Sonadow & lemon. Robotnik has discovered a secret weapon named Project Shadow, and is determined to get his hands on it before the Sonic Underground does. A tale of the final battles that the royal Hedgehog triplets face.
1. Prologue

This is a Sonic Underground fic. Don't like? Piss off.

This is also eventual Sonadow. Don't like? Piss off.

**Disclaimer: Sonic Underground belongs to DiC Entertainment. All Sonic characters (besides the ones exclusive to Sonic Underground) belong to SEGA. I own nothing but this fanfiction's plot.**

A/N: This be my main project, and I'm really enjoying writing this so far. It's been really fun X3 I hope you enjoy it too!It does start off slow, but please bere with it. The Sonadow doesn't start for a while, and Shadow doesn't actually appear until chapter four. Just to give you guys a heads up.

–

"Dr. Robotnik, sir. You called us?" Sleet asked warily as he approached his "master's" chair.

"Yes, Sleet..." Robotnik chuckled. "I have a job for you. Have you ever heard of Project Shadow?"

The canine was unsure how to answer. Whatever he said was sure to anger Robotnik. He had never heard of a "Project Shadow" before. "Uhm..."

Luckily, Dingo answered for him. "I have, sir! I read about it once."

"IDIOT!" The dictator screamed. "Of course you haven't, either of you!" He glared at Dingo. "And you can't even read!"

'_Then why did you even ask it..._' Oh how Sleet wished he could say that. "What...what is it, my liege?"

Robotnik grinned evilly, seemingly glad to explain. "I'm glad you asked. It was created by my grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. Project Shadow is said to be the Ultimate Life Form."

"'Ultimate Life Form'?" Dingo questioned. "What's that?"

"_That_ is what I called you here for. Project Shadow is rightfully mine since my grandfather is dead. I need you to retrieve it for me."

"But sir, where is it?" Sleet piped in.

Robotnik turned back to his computer and started typing. Soon enough, the screen showed a small laboratory located in the middle of the forest. "It's taken me years to find these fools. The entire establishment is designed to contain Project Shadow. They've even made special precautions to make sure that it stays there."

"Special precautions?" Sleet didn't like the sound of that. "W-what kind, sir?"

The fat tyrant didn't answer right away. He seemed to be contemplating something. "Clever...very clever..."

"S-sir?"

"Chaos Emeralds, Sleet. We need them to acquire Project Shadow." Robotnik let out an evil chuckle. "And luckily, I know where one is."

"The one on Angel Island?" Dingo asked stupidly.

"No, you fool! Energy readings have picked up another one!" Dingo winced and fell silent. "You two are to retrieve the Chaos Emerald and _then_ Project Shadow. Is this understood?!"

The two canines immedietly saluted. "Yes sir!"

"Good...now let me tell you where the emerald is..."

–

Sonic's green eyes sparkled as he participated in his favorite pass time: running. He had a destination in mind but what was the harm in a few little detours?

He came to a halt in the middle of a clearing. "Huh...he's not here yet." The blue hedgehog them impatiently began tapping his foot. "I'm wait-ing..."

"Sonic!" A young voice called out to him from above. Sonic's ears perked up and he grinned.

"Yo, Tails!" He waved back to the two-tailed fox that was flying his way. Sonic put an arm around the fox as he touched down. "Dude, I haven't seen you in _forever_! How've ya been?"

"Great, thanks!" Tails smiled back. "I've been working on a bunch of new inventions The Tornado is great too."

"I'm sure it is, kid." The kit laughed as Sonic gave him a playful noogie. "Hey, so do you still wanna meet my sibs?"

"Of course. From the way you talked about them over the phone, they sound like nice people."

"They are. Watch out for Sonia though. She can be a little...weird."

Tails giggled cutely. "I'll be fine."

–

"Sonia? Manic? I'm home!" Sonic popped his head into the living room. "Helloooo?"

Another face peered around the corner. Manic grinned at the sight of his brother. "Yo Sonic, where were you?"

"Picking up a friend." Sonic gently pushed Tails out into view. The young fox blushed of embarrassment and looked down shyly. "Manic, this is my best buddy, Tails." He chuckled at Tails' shyness. "Aw c'mon Tails, Manic's cool."

"H-hi..." Tails squeaked. The green hedgehog couldn't help but laugh.

"Heya. Nice to meetcha. Name's Manic." Manic held out his hand while he spoke. "Tails, is it?"

Tails gulped but accepted the hand and shook it. "W-well actually, that's just my nickname. My real name is Miles Prower. Nice to meet you too."

"Miles, huh? I kinda prefer Tails, no offense."

"None taken. I do too, personally. Sonic was the one who gave me the nickname and it just kind of...stuck."

Sonic grinned in recognition and rubbed the underside of his nose. "A work of pure art if you ask me."

Manic rolled his eyes. "Whatever, bro. Anyway, come to the back. Sonia says she found something out about Robotnik's next plan." He looked at Tails and smiled. "You joining us, little dude?"

Tails looked stunned. "C-can I?"

"Of course!" Sonic and Manic exclaimed at the same time.

"You're a Freedom Fighter too, Tails. That's how I met you. You deserve to see another Robuttnik scheme get shut down." Sonic put an arm around his best friend and winked.

Tails beamed. "Right! And I'll help out too!"

Manic gave Sonic a questionable look, to which the blue hedgehog just responded with, "You'll see. Tails may be a kid, but he's a genius."


	2. Chapter 1

After getting introduced to Tails ("Oh, he's adorable!"), Sonia turned an angry gaze onto her blue-quilled brother.

"Sonic Hedgehog, what the _hell_ were you thinking?! Going off alone like that without telling anybody?! You could have been hurt, or captured, or even killed!"

Sonic's ears folded back but he tried to retain a smug attitude. "But I wasn't, was I? And can we please refrain from saying that C-word?"

"Dammit Sonic, how many times do I have to tell you? Let us _know_ when you are going out! You had me worried sick!"

Sonic soon grew annoyed of his sister's lectures and schemed a way to make her stop. He put an arm over her shoulder and began to whisper. "Listen Sonia, can you yell at me later? Manic said you had something to show us. And anyway...you shouldn't say that kind of stuff around Tails. He's just a kid."

Sonia immediately felt guilty about Tails. Both peered over at the kit and were relieved to see Manic had covered Tails' ears.

"He didn't hear a word." Manic grinned, and by the look on Tails' face, he was telling the truth. Manic removed his hands and Tails looked at him confused.

"What happened?"

"Nothing, little dude. Everything's fine." He turned to Sonia. "C'mon sis, tell us what you found out."

"Oh right." The violet hedgehog went to her computer. "I sent out another spy bug. It was in a safe place this time." The screen showed Robotnik's chamber with the man himself talking to his two henchmen, Sleet and Dingo.

"_Chaos Emeralds, Sleet. We need them to acquire Project Shadow._" This was followed by an evil chuckle. "_And luckily, I know where one is._"

"_Izzat the one on Angel Island?_" Dingo actually had the courage to ask. Or maybe he was too stupid to know he would get screamed at.

"_No you fool! Energy readings have picked up another one! You two are to retrieve the Chaos Emerald and _then_ Project Shadow. Is this understood?!_"

"_Yes sir!_"

"_Good. Now let me tell you where the emerald is..._"

Sonic leaned over and whispered to Sonia. "Hey sis, is this live?"

Sonia nodded. "Yeah. I'm hearing this for the first time too."

"Shh! Listen!" Manic shushed them.

"_The Chaos Emerald is located in the upmost peninsula. In fact, someone familiar is in possession of it._"

"_Who?_" _Sleet stared._

"_That blasted Oracle, that's who!_"

The hedgehog triplets gasped. That certainly didn't sound good.

"_I want you two to find that emerald at any cost! You know where the Oracle is, so go!_"_ Sleet and Dingo began to scramble around and soon dashed out of the room._

Sonia turned the spy bug off. "Guys, we have to go help the Oracle."

"Hold on." All eyes turned to Sonic. "The Oracle can take care of himself for now. First off, I wanna know what's got Robotnik so worked up. Something about a 'Project Shadow'?"

"I've never heard of it..." Sonia said while pondering. Manic shook his head, saying he'd never heard of it either.

"I have." The three hedgehogs turned to look at Tails, all looking a little surprised. "Granted I haven't heard much. I only saw a little bit when I hacked into Robotnik's computer."

"What'd you see, Tails?" Sonic pressed.

"Like I said, not much. It said something about a "Space Colony ARK" and Project Shadow being it's greatest work. It also said that the creator was someone called Professor Gerald Robotnik."

"Robotnik?!" The triplets exclaimed at the same time.

"So the creator of this "Project Shadow" is related to Robotnik?"

"I think so," Tails nodded. "But that's all I found out?"

Manic piped in, curious about something. "Wait a sec, what's a Space Colony ARK?"

"I've read about it somewhere..." Tails began to think. "From what I remember, the Space Colony ARK was a research laboratory in space. There were rumors that it was building some huge secret weapon that could either save the world or destroy it. My guess is that it's this Project Shadow that Robotnik is looking for. But the ARK got shut down years ago. Nobody lives there anymore."

They all nodded. "That's good enough for now." Manic ran to the door. "We'll find out more later. Right now, we gotta find the Oracle."

"Right!"

–

"Move it, you idiot, move!" Sleet nearly screamed at Dingo. He had turned the dimwitted canine into a snowmobile.

"I'm going as fast as I can, Sleet!"

"Ugh, you are so useless! Dr. Robotnik will have our heads if you don't hurry up!"

"Okay, okay!" Dingo pushed his gears to the max.

Sleet grinned as he saw the cave that led to the Oracle and the Chaos Emerald come into sight. "Okay Dingo, stop!"

Dingo did just that and Sleet jumped off. "Can you change me back to normal now, Sleet?"

"In a minute," Sleet mumbled, not really paying attention. He opened up his pack and took out a communicator. "We've reached the Oracle's cave. Send in the SWATbots."

Not even a minute passed before at least a thousand SWATbots marched over the hills and over to the two henchmen. "Dr. Robotnik spared no expense this time, Dingo," Sleet explained at Dingo's shocked look. "He wants to be sure that the Chaos Emerald is secure."

"I'll say..." The smarter canine rolled his eyes and turned Dingo back to normal.

The SWATbots came to a halt in front of the duo. "Alright," Sleet commanded. "Your goal is to find the Chaos Emerald _at any cost_. Freeze anything in sight, especially the Oracle. If you see him, don't hesitate to do anything to get rid of him. I don't care what you have to do, just get that emerald!" All of the SWATbots gave a salute and marched into the cave.

Chaos and destruction ensued, but it went unnoticed by the cave's lone owner. The Oracle of Delphius had chosen that precise moment to meditate. It was a deep meditation that was not easily broken. Because of this, he had also failed to see the lone SWATbot stick its head through the glowing waterfall that led to his chambers.

The SWATbot saw the Oracle in his deep meditation and immedietly called for backup. Soon after, ten SWATbots made their way into the mystical chambers and began to fire their freeze rays, destroying everything in sight.

The Oracle snapped out of his trance. "What the-" His protest was cut short as the robot shot out a freeze ray and the Oracle was frozen solid.

"Commander Sleet," The SWATbot said into its communicator. "The Oracle has been eliminated."

"_Excellent!_" came the response. "_Now concentrate on finding the Chaos Emerald, but don't hesitate to destroy anything that you find._"

"Affirmative." It began to scan around the area and its sensors soon picked up a high energy surge. Using a regular laser, it annihilated everything in sight. In the center, the SWATbot found the purple Chaos Emerald.

"Objective complete. Awaiting further instructions."

"_Make sure nothing is left of that place! Once you are finished destroying everything, gather up the rest of the SWATbots and come back to the ship_."

"Understood." Making sure nothing was left, the robots soon exited the now ruined chambers.

Minutes passed, and the Oracle was still frozen. A young boy fearfully whimpered in his hiding place. "Please let him be okay, please let him be okay..."


	3. Chapter 2

Tails had flown the hedgehog triplets in Sonic's own plane, the Tornado. Needless to say, Sonia and Manic were stunned. "Dude, Sonic, you have your own airplane? How come you never use it?" Manic questioned.

"Cause I gave it to Tails. He helped me and Uncle Chuck make it, so Uncle Chuck put him in charge of it." Tails blushed in recognition.

"I'm more amazed that he can fly it!" Sonia gaped. "Tails is what, six?" A nod from the fox. "And he's already flying a plane?"

"Told ya he was a genius." Sonic grinned and spread out his arms to keep his balance. Both him and Manic decided to ride on the wings of the plane while Sonia sat in the passenger's seat.

"You two are crazy..." Sonia shook her head.

As the approached the arctic regions, the wind began to pick up. The Tornado rocked dangerously and the two hedgehogs on the wings ducked to keep steady.

"The wind's too strong, Sonic!" Tails yelled through the howling winds. "I can't fly in this!"

Sonic opened one eye. "Land there, Tails!" He pointed. "This is good enough! We can make it on foot from here!"

With some difficulty, Tails managed to safely land the plane on a strong sheet of ice. Once on solid ground, Sonic and Manic leaped off the wings.

"Wicked ride, dude!" Manic exclaimed while giving a high-five to his brother. "Let's do it again!"

"Manic, we have a priority here!" Sonia grumbled.

Sonic ignored his two siblings as they argued and turned to Tails, who was checking the bi-plane for any damages. "Hey Tails? Can you stay here?"

"Huh? Why can't I come?"

"Well..." The blue hedgehog sheepishly scratched behind his head. "The Oracle is supposed to be a secret...I don't know if he wants other people knowing where he lives. It's bad enough that Robotnik knows."

"Oh..." Tails ears drooped and he curled up into his blanket.

"Sorry Tails..." Sonic ruffled the kit's hair. He felt bad for having to leave Tails out here in the cold, but he really didn't have a choice. "Really. I'll make it up to you, I swear."

"It's okay. Just hurry back, it's cold."

Sonic nodded and have his friend a thumbs-up. He then dashed over to his siblings, who had finally stopped fighting, at least long enough to get moving. "Alright guys. We ready to go?"

"That depends. Do you know the way?" Sonia asked with a raise of her eyebrow, referring to the last time they had come here.

"Oh come on, Sonia!"

–

After a few twists and turns, the hedgehog triplets found their way to the Oracle's cave. However, what they saw was not what they expected.

"What...what happened?"

They couldn't see past the entrance. It was completely frozen over. Manic knocked on it to make sure it was solid and not an illusion. Definitely solid. "Don't tell me..."

"It's Robotnik. Has to be." Sonic was furious. Robotnik had beaten them to the punch. How did he get here so fast? Let alone subdue the Oracle in that short of a time?

"Sonic, can you break this ice?" Sonia questioned. The blue hedgehog nodded and quickly unleashed the strongest spin dash he could muster up.

It took a few minutes, but the ice eventually shattered. Sonic spun out of his ball and shook his head, trying to get the dizziness and migraine out of his system. "You okay, bro?" Manic asked with concern.

"Yeah. Ice was thick." With the dizziness almost gone, Sonic raced in. "Let's go!" Soon enough though, he stopped short when he saw something else he didn't want to see. "You've gotta be kidding me..."

"What?" Sonia and Manic ran up. Then they understood and groaned. The hole leading into the Oracle's cavern had been sealed in ice as well. Robotnik was certainly serious this time around. The two looked at Sonic expectantly.

"Do I have to?"

They continued to stare at him.

"Okay, okay!"

–

"Everything's..."

"Demolished..."

"Yeah..."

The Oracle's cavern, normally clean and organized, was completely destroyed. Pages from spell books were everywhere, bookshelves were knocked over and split apart, everything was gone. It was almost painful to look at for the hedgehog triplets. How could anyone do such a terrible thing?

"Oracle?" Sonia called. "Oracle, are you there?"

No answer. That worried them. Either the Oracle had escaped or...

"Let's split up," Sonic said, his voice trying not to shake. "If he's not here, then he must've escaped."

"What if he was captured?"

"I don't even wanna think about it."

With that said, the three hedgehogs split up. It seemed like forever before Manic let out a shriek. Sonic and Sonia raced over when they heard it, Sonic arriving first of course. "What's wrong?"

Manic looked pale. His hand could barely manage to point because it was shaking so hard. The other two hedgehogs looked to where he was pointing and immediately paled under their fur as well, Sonia letting out a gasp. They were staring at the now-frozen Oracle.

"H-he's..."

"What should we do?"

"I can't cut through that. I might hurt him."

Luckily, the hedgehog triplets barely had to do anything. Sonia touched the frozen Oracle then pulled back with another gasp. He had began to glow like normal, and the ice shattered. The Oracle flopped down to his floor in a slump, nearly unconscious. Sonic, Sonia, and Manic dropped down immediately to his aid. "Oracle, are you alright?"

"Ah...yes. Thank you, hedgehogs..." the Oracle replied weakly. The warm glow around him refused to disperse, almost like it was protecting him. "I'll be fine now..."

"What happened?" Manic asked the wounded prophet, although he had a pretty good idea on what the answer was going to be. The Oracle was silent for a while, eyes closed, gathering his thoughts.

"Robotnik. He took the Chaos Emerald."

"I was afraid of that..." Sonic mumbled. Now Robotnik had the location and the access to this "Project Shadow" thing, whatever the hell it was. "We've gotta go after him, guys. If he releases that thing and gets its power, it's gonna be bad."

"But Sonic, we don't even know where that base is!"

"Leave that to Tails and Cyrus. They can figure it out. But we have to act _now_."

"A-alright..." Sonia was a little skeptical, but with Tails and Cyrus working together, it was plenty possible. She gave the Oracle one last check and headed out with her brothers following.

"Wait." The Oracle stood up, his energy now flowing back to him. "I apologize, Sonia and Manic...but may I speak to your brother in private?"

"Huh?" Both Sonia and Manic looked at Sonic, who looked just as confused as they were.

Despite that, the blue hedgehog nodded. "Go on, guys. I'll catch up." Sonic had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The Oracle wanted to talk to him _alone_. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Maybe both?

Sonia and Manic cast confused glances at their brother before walking through the magical waterfall, leaving the two alone in the room, a nervous Sonic turning around and facing the one who had addressed him, staying silent.

The Oracle sighed. "You are conflicted, young hedgehog." Sonic tensed slightly but remained silent and allowed the Oracle to continue. "You know the ones who broke you will be there."

Gloved fists clenched. "They didn't break me."

"Maybe not, but they certainly came close."

Sonic was trembling, only slightly, but enough to be noticed. He knew exactly what the Oracle was talking about. The memories still haunted him...

"_H-hey! What are you-"_

"_Oh for the love of - Dingo, gag him, would you?"_

"_My pleasure, Sleet."_

"_Get the hell away from me you - mmmph!"_

He stopped there, had to. If he thought farther, he'd start crying. Tears were already starting to form at the edge of his emerald eyes.

The Oracle obviously knew what had happened. He put a hand on Sonic's shoulder. "Sonic...I am not telling you what to do...But I feel that you should not go on this mission."

"I can't do that," Sonic replied, looking at him with determined eyes. "This mission is important, especially if he came here. I have to help." That look told the Oracle everything. Sonic was scared, yes...but he was going no matter what. Nothing could stop him, not even his fears.

He smiled. "Your confidence is inspiring, Sonic..." The shaking had steadied. "I would not usually do this but...you are obviously troubled. Would you like me to reveal something about your future?"

Confused emeralds blinked. "My future?" That was new. "That depends," Sonic said with a joking smile, although the Oracle could tell it was forced. "You actually gonna tell me it or just speak in riddles?"

The Oracle chuckled. "No riddles, I promise." With that said, he closed his eyes and glowed a little brighter. It died down again after a few minutes. "Again, I am not saying you should go on this mission..." he began. "Should you, however...it will set off a chain of events that will lead you to your soul mate."

Sonic's ears immediately perked up. "My...soul mate? As in, the person I'm gonna spend the rest of my life with?"

"Indeed. That is usually what a soul mate is, no?"

Well he couldn't argue with that. Still...what an out-of-the-blue fortune. He certainly wasn't expecting something like that. "You can't tell me anymore? Like who she is or what she's like?"

The Oracle shook his head. "That is all I am able to see."

"Oh..." Weird fortune or not, now he was interested. He was definitely going on the mission now. "Well, thank you, I guess..."

A crash and a yelp caught Sonic's attention and he got on guard. "More stray bots?" The Oracle on the other hand, just sighed.

"No need to be alarmed, Sonic." Said hedgehog gave him a confused look. "It's alright Silver. You can come out now, it's safe."

There was a tiny whimper and Sonic had to look twice at what he saw. Another hedgehog walked out from behind a ruined bookshelf, covered in silver-white fur. His quills, Sonic noted, were a little odd. Two large ones sprouted on the of this hedgehog's head, unlike the six quills on the back of his own, and five more tiny quills came up from his forehead. The fluff on his chest was quite large, curling all the way around his neck. His boots almost came up to the silver hedgehog's knees and they, along with his gloves, had a strange pattern embedded on them.

He barely looked as old as Sonic. Maybe a few years younger. What the heck was he doing here?

"Sorry Oracle..." the silver hedgehog muttered, looking down and ashamed. "I couldn't do anything. There were too many. I just hid while they destroyed your home..."

"Don't worry," the Oracle replied while putting a hand on the strange hedgehog's furry shoulder. "I am just glad that you are not hurt." He turned to Sonic. "Sonic, this is Silver."

Silver gave a shy wave and Sonic smiled at him. "I'll start cleaning up." He walked over to one of the many broken bookshelves and sighed, raising his hands in front of him. Sonic was about to ask what he was doing but stopped short as his question was soon answered.

Silver had started to glow, a blue aura surrounding him. Along with that, the symbols on his boots and gloves glowed as well. That same aura enveloped the bookcase and it stood up, fixing itself almost instantly.

"Wha...?" Sonic was speechless as the Oracle let out another chuckle.

"Silver is a telekinetic, Sonic."

"Wow..." Emerald eyes turned to the Oracle, still a little confused. "You never struck me as somebody who would take somebody in."

"I found him wandering out in the snow, nearly frozen to death. Once I nursed him back to health, he demanded that I let him repay me."

"But what was he doing out there in the first place?"

The Oracle was silent for a while. "I am ashamed to admit it...but I do not know."

Sonic didn't know what to say to that. Something the Oracle didn't know? Was that even possible? "But...how..."

"When I found him, he had lost his memory. All he knew was his name. The telekinesis just seemed to come naturally for him over time. I did try to gather information about him...but I saw nothing. Nothing came to me in my visions."

"_Nothing_? Not even his family or anything like that?"

A shake of his head. "Nothing. It greatly intrigued me, which is another reason I took him in. He had nowhere to go."

"Oh..." Sonic watched Silver as he finished fixing the bookshelves, now settling on all the actual book scattered around. Then he remembered Sonia, Manic, and Tails were still waiting for him (hopefully). He turned to the Oracle with a small smile, one that wasn't forced. "Thanks, Oracle. I'm glad you're okay. Don't worry, we'll get your Chaos Emerald back."

"Be careful, Sonic," was the reply, his eyes fierce. That surprised Sonic. Never before had he seen such a powerful look before in the prophet's eyes. "Those two will be there. You know this. Do not let your guard down."

Sonic's breath caught in his throat and he swallowed. "You don't have to tell me twice..." Right as that was said, Sonic ran off, vanishing in his blue streak.

"You were right, Oracle," Silver said while walking up. "He's really fast."

"Indeed." The Oracle turned around, now noting another presence. "Ah, Your Highness. What can I do for you?"

A figure walked out of the shadows and removed the hood covering her face, revealing Queen Aleena. She looked troubled.

"Silver..." Her voice was kind. Silver immediately went to attention. "I'm sorry, but may I speak with the Oracle in private?"

"Huh? Oh...oh, yes!" Silver was a little startled that the queen had addressed him like that. "I'm sorry, I'll continue cleaning."

The Oracle couldn't help but chuckle as he watched Silver scramble around, clumsily tripping a few times. After making sure he was okay, he turned to Aleena, already knowing what she was going to ask.

"Delphius..." the queen mumbled. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

No answer was given to her.

"I mean, letting Robotnik acquire a Chaos Emerald, especially like that...is that wise?"

"Do not worry, my queen," the Oracle replied mysteriously. "Everything is going the way it should."


	4. Chapter 3

"Hey sis?"

"Mmm?" Sonia looked up from her work at her brother. "Yeah Manic?"

The green hedgehog looked a little awkward as he spoke. "Have you noticed that Sonic's been acting a little...weird, lately?"

Sonia sighed at her brother's question. "Yeah..." she replied, avoiding Manic's gaze. "I have. He hasn't been himself in weeks...and he won't tell me why. He just avoids me whenever I try to ask him about it."

"Same..." Manic stared at his sister with a look she had never seen before on him. "I'm worried, sis. Really worried. He started acting like that after we saved him from Robotnik all those weeks ago. What could have happened?"

"I don't know.." Sonia returned the look. It was pure worry. "It must have been something devastating, but I have no idea what it could be. And the thing that really confuses me is that they didn't Roboticize him."

"No kidding. He was held prisoner for a whole week. Plenty of time to Roboticize him. I'm glad he wasn't, but something even worse must've happened. Worse than Roboticization. The question is, what did they do to make him act like this?"

Sonia's mind was drawing a blank. What could be worse than turning into a robot and obeying Robotnik's every whim? Nothing she could think of, and it didn't look like Sonic was going to tell them anytime soon. "Let's not worry about it now, Manic. We have a top priority mission in the morning. We both need sleep." The violet hedgehog smiled warmly at her brother. "We'll get him to tell us sooner or later. Don't worry too much; this _is _Sonic's we're talking about."

Manic nodded but had a feeling that his sister didn't believe her own words. But she had a point. This wasn't the time to worry about it now. Certainly later though. "Right. Night, sis." He waved slightly and shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked out of Sonia's room.

Once her door was closed, Manic grinned knowingly. Both of his siblings would soon be asleep. Time to put his own plan into action. He'd seen something veeeery interesting in a jewelry store on the way back to their hideout. If his hunch was correct, and it usually was, that something would prove extremely useful in their upcoming mission.

"Time to see if I still got my skills." Regrettably for him, Manic hadn't been able to use his thief skills for quite some time since Sonic and Sonia forbade it so much. With a crack of his knuckles, he tiptoed out as his training had taught him and dashed off. He had a job to do.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"What's taking him so long?"

The two siblings, Sonic and Sonia, were already up and ready for the priority one mission. They, along with Tails and Cyrus, were just waiting on one more thing.

"I know Manic goes out by himself sometimes but this is ridiculous! For all we know, he's been gone all night! What's so important to him that he had to skimp out on us for this mission?"

"Breathe Sonia," Cyrus said from their visual communicator. "It had to be important for him to be gone this long. Manic wouldn't abandon a mission this important. We still have some time before we have to move."

Manic Hedgehog decided to make his entrance at that moment, complete with a loud yawn. Sonic and Sonia immediately turned to him with annoyed looks.

"Dude, Manic, where _were_ you? Don't you realize that we have a really important mission today?" Sonic growled while his sister nodded, agreeing with her brother's short but sweet lecture. This should be good.

"Chill guys," Manic replied with a casual wave of his hands. "I know what we gotta do. That's why I went out. Saw something that I thought would help." The punk hedgehog reached into his pack and everyone in the room, Cyrus included, gasped at the item in Manic's hand.

"Wh-where did you get that?" Sonia asked, shocked and pointing to the fist-sized red jewel her brother was holding.

Manic shrugged. "Friend of mine called last night and said he had a good deal for me. Turned out to be this thing. This'll come in handy, right?

The violet hedgehog looked stunned while Sonic just crossed his arms. Obviously not believing him.

"You stole it, didn't you?"

"Weeeeeeell…maybe."

"Manic!"

"Sonic, c'mon! We need this thing, don't we? Didn't Robotnik say we needed a Chaos Emerald to release this thing?"

"We don't want to release it, Manic. We want to stop Robotnik from taking it."

"So then why don't _we _take it instead? Then 'Buttnik will never have a chance to go back to that place and take it again!"

Sonic let out a loud sigh, turning to his sister for her opinion. If anyone could understand Manic, she could. At least she could put him in line. He didn't particularly like the idea. Did Sonia? "It's a good idea…" she mumbled, surprising her blue hedgehog brother. "If we take it, Robotnik will have an even less chance of taking it back and using it against us."

"Agreed," Cyrus piped in. "And if we get it, maybe we can use it ourselves."

It seemed like a good idea, no matter how wary Sonic may have still been. "If you say so." He reached a hand out to Manic and the green hedgehog handed him the red Chaos Emerald. "Thank, bro."

"Alright, let's review the plan." Cyrus took out some papers. "Tails is already in position and surveying the area. His report so far is saying that there are guards all around, as expected. Manic, your job is to cut the power. Sonia will help you. Once it's cut, Sonic, you have about fifteen seconds to get in before the back-up power comes on."

"Plenty of time." A nod from Sonic.

"Once Sonic's inside, Manic and Tails have to keep the guards outside preoccupied. They'll probably try to run inside to make sure no one got in so keep them thinking Sonic didn't make it."

"Got it." Another nod from Manic this time.

"Sonia, your job is to guide Sonic to Project Shadow. I've sent you the complete map of the Prison Island base on your computer."

"Right." The last nod came from Sonia. All three were ready.

Cyrus looked at them all, worry and admiration in his eyes. "This is a pretty risky plan, guys. Are you sure you're up for it?"

"Of course we are! Risky plans are the best kind!" Sonic grinned his trademark grin and gave Cyrus a thumbs-up. "We'll get it, don't you worry."

Cyrus nodded, returning the thumbs-up. "Good luck, hedgehogs."

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Silence surrounded the Prison Island. The guards protecting the place were unaware of the plan that was about to unfold. Unfortunately for them, someone would be stealing the main thing they were trying to keep hidden away, whether it be the hedgehog triplets doing the stealing…or someone else in mind.

"Manic, it's Sonia. You and Tails in position?"

"Ready to rock whenever you are, sis!"

"Good, then set the charges on your side." With Tails keeping an eye on things from above, both Sonia and Manic placed a detonator on the power boxes. Pressing a few buttons, the machines instantly set and the two hedgehogs sprinted away, just barely avoiding getting caught in the explosions. Everything in the facility immediately went dark.

"Yes!" It was all going well so far. Without wasting any time, Sonic dashed inside. Luckily, the robot guards were too busy trying to find the source of the explosion to notice the blue streak slip right past them.

Three…two…one…

The lights came back on as soon as Sonic made his way into a back hallway. Cameras flared to life and observed the area. "Damn it…I wish that lasted a little longer," Sonic mumbled. Now his job was just going to be that much harder.

The communicator in Sonic's ear began to beep. "Sonia here," his sister called. "How are things on your end, Sonic?"

"Good. I made it inside. Got my location?"

"Hold on…" Sonia opened her computer and fled behind several bushes, hoping Manic and Tails could fulfill their duties. The screen showed a map of the whole facility that was Prison Island. Thank Mobius for Cyrus' hacking skills. A dot on the map marked Sonic's location; a tracker inside the communicator. "Got it. Go down the rest of this hallway and turn left. And _please_ be careful."

"Don't worry 'bout me, Sonia. I'm a pro." With a slight chuckle, Sonic peered across the hallway. The cameras in line would make this a lot harder…but also that much more fun! What was a mission without a challenge. "I'll see ya on the flip side."

"Alright Sonic, this one right here. The door to the left. It should be the room where they're keeping Project Shadow."

"Gotcha sis. Keep in touch." The blue hedgehog cut himself short as he saw the contents of the room. A machine was placed in the very back and was hooked up to even more machines, the most noticeable being a strange capsule in the center of the room. Sonic walked up to the capsule and tried to look inside but it was covered in too much fog and ice to get a clear picture. '_Ice?_' The blue hedgehog wiped away some of the condensation and blinked in confusion. "There's something in there…"

He could see an outline of something resting in the capsule. The machine itself wasn't very big and the outline was fitting inside it perfectly. It was pretty much the size of Sonic himself. "This can't be what 'Buttnik's looking for, can it?" Better safe than sorry, he decided. A control panel was located near the capsule. There was a slot for something to fit inside as well as a keyboard for the screen. "Guess this is where the emerald goes." Once it was in place, Sonic typed in what he had to before another message came up. "Hey sis, it's asking for a password. Can you find out what it is?"

"Yeah, just a sec…" A few moments passed with faint sounds of Sonia typing something. Sonic crossed his arms and impatiently tapped his foot.

"C'mon Sonia, I'm wait-ing…"

The complaint was ignored (Sonia was used to it by now) and the violet hedgehog continued on her search. "Found it. M-A-R-I-A. Maria. That's the password."

"Maria? Weird name for a password." Sonic scratched his head for a second and then shrugged. "Whatever, I'll put it in." His communicator was switched off as he typed in the needed letters. "M-A-R-I-A…" It accepted the password and the machine soon came to life, aching sounds coming from it for not being in use for however long.

"Well, well, Sonic the Hedgehog. Who knew a rat like you could work yourself into a place like this?"

Sonic froze in fear for a few seconds before quickly putting a hand on his medallion and his guitar appeared in a blue flash of light. He immediately pointed it at the two canines and the army of SWATbots behind them. "Stay the _hell_ away from me…" the blue hedgehog growled, poised to attack at any moment with fingers on the strings of his weapon.

"Aw, would you look at that Dingo? He's afraid of us!" The two bounty hunters laughed as Sonic continued to glare.

"Yeah, he's shaking!" Dingo said between laughs. "I say we make him even more afraid!"

"For once, I agree with you." Sleet knew Sonic was positioned to shoot at any time, but the way the blue hedgehog was shaking, Sleet was ready to call that bluff. "C'mon Sonic, try your luck."

"I don't _need_ luck to beat you!" Just as Sonic was about to fire a shot, Sleet surprised him by quickly pulling out his own gun and firing his own shot at Sonic's guitar. Sonic let out a yelp as the guitar morphed back into his necklace and the shot caused it to fly across the room. Dazed but quickly shook it off, Sonic ran across the room. They were blocking the exit but maybe he could run past them. Then maybe he could-

His thoughts stopped short, as did his feet, as Sleet shot out a beam that went straight for his legs, incasing them in electrical shackles (1). His legs paralyzed in mid-run, Sonic fell to the floor. He was stuck.

Everyone was too busy to notice the capsule in the back of the room start to open up. They were also too busy to notice the pair of glowing robotic eyes in the shadows near the capsule.

"Intruder alert."

Sleet chuckled evilly. "Well, well, it looks as if we've caught you _again_ Sonic. After we get Project Shadow, we'll be happy to take you back to Dr. Robotnik. Maybe he'll even give you to us instead of Roboticizing you!"

Sonic paled under his fur. Oh hell no. Not again. "Get away from me!"

Just as Sleet was about to make the grab for Sonic, both heard a sudden scream from Dingo. Annoyed, Sleet turned around to yell at the idiot canine for being just that, an idiot, but was soon silenced by the sight in front of him. Even Sonic was stunned to silence.

A huge robot stood before them. It was painted red, yellow, and black and was even bigger and bulkier than Dingo. Sonic looked a little closer on one of its huge 'shoulders' and noticed it had the overlander Greek symbol of Omega printed on it (the only reason he knew that was because of Sonia).

And it was currently pointing a gigantic machine gun at them all. Gulp…

"Intruders found. Red alert. Surrender yourselves or prepare to be destroyed."

The shock wore off on Sleet soon enough. "Get that thing, you idiots! SWATbots, attack!" The 'bots came to attention and began to shoot. Their bullets and lasers only bounced off the other's protective armor, shocking everyone in the room.

"Pathetic. Let me show you how it's done." The robot's other arm turned into a gun as well and began shooting in all directions. They aimed perfectly at the obsolete SWATbots and broke them into pieces. The stray bullets shot towards the living creatures in the room and Sonic and the bounty hunters had to duck to avoid being shot. This thing was a massive weapon! Was this Project Shadow?

"Let's get out of here!" Sleet yelled to Dingo and the two scrambled out of the room, abandoning Sonic and their mission. With no one else left in the room besides the blue hedgehog, the robot's sights were turned to Sonic.

"One more left." And it aimed right between Sonic's emerald eyes. Unable to run, Sonic backed against the wall as much as he could. As if that would help.

'_So this is it? Getting shot to death by a robot when I can't even move? Great. Bye Sonia, bye Manic. Love you guys…_' Even through the sudden fog (…fog?) Sonic could see the gun pointed at him. He closed his eyes, bracing himself for the shot. Here we go…

"Omega, stand down."

Sonic's eyes snapped open at the sudden voice, one that he didn't recognize. Standing between him and the robot, called Omega he guessed, was another hedgehog (wait, what?). The quills were ebony black but the head quills had a red streak in them, as did the sides of his arms. On the hedgehog's wrists were two golden rings, and Sonic could also see that two more of those same rings were wrapped tightly around the ankles. The hedgehog was also wearing the weirdest yet coolest shoes Sonic had ever seen (besides his own, of course).

The stranger currently had a gloved hand on Omega's gun arm, lowering it down. "What are you doing?" He asked, voice smooth and deep.

"This organic life form was attempting to destroy you."

Sonic had to gasp silently as the strange hedgehog turned to him. Those eyes…they were like rubies but at the same time reminded Sonic of a raging fire. He suddenly got the feeling that it would be a really bad idea to mess with this guy.

"He's no threat. He can't even move his legs." The black hedgehog positioned Omega's gun away from Sonic and walked over to him, staring right into his eyes. Sonic stared back just as fierce. "Hold still." A yellow spark formed at the tip of the hedgehog's index finger and positioned it just before the electric shackles binding Sonic's legs together.

"What are you-?"

"Quiet." The spark grew and suddenly meshed together with the shackles and they instantly disappeared, the two forces canceling each other out.

"Whoa…" With his legs now free, Sonic leaped up, stretching them out. "Thanks!" He grinned at the hedgehog, his remark meaning two thanks: one with his legs and the other with Omega.

"Hmph…" The black hedgehog turned away from Sonic and crossed his arms. "It was nothing. Omega, where are we?" Ignoring Sonic for the moment, he turned towards the robot.

A pause. "Analyzing…" Omega was silent for a few seconds. "Prison Island on Planet Mobius."

"Mobius…so we made it here after all." The hedgehog continued on as if he had forgotten Sonic was even there. "Do you know what happened?"

"Captured, both of us. They imprisoned you in suspended animation and managed to put me in standby mode. I was to awaken when someone threatened you."

"I see. How long has it been since then?"

More silence from the robot. Sonic, who had absolutely no idea what they were talking about, listened intently. Even if he was clueless, that's why you eavesdrop! And he couldn't help but listen to them anyway. Not like it was hard to.

Omega spoke again after a few more seconds. "…Approximately fifty years."

That snapped the hedgehog out of his thoughts and his face showed complete disbelief. "Fifty - wait, what? Are you serious?"

"Affirmative."

While the other was shocked into silence, Sonic took that as his chance to speak up and get some answers. "Uh, 'scuse me?"

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()

"Let me get this straight…YOU'RE Project Shadow?"

"Yes," the black hedgehog confirmed and nodded. "Why do you think I was kept in suspended animation for fifty-something years?"

Sonic was shocked into silence for a while. This black hedgehog standing in front of him was this so-called "Ultimate Life Form" that Robotnik wanted so badly? "You sure that guy's not the Ultimate Life Form?" The blue hedgehog asked awkwardly, pointing a thumb to Omega.

Shadow rose a brow. "Omega? No, Gerald made him to be my body guard, I guess."

Gerald, right, Robotnik's grandfather. Had to keep in mind that this guy was created by a Robotnik. Shadow didn't seem so bad though. Funny, looking at the two "weapons," one would think that their roles would be reversed. Of course, he had no idea what Shadow could do as of yet except somehow get rid of electric shackles. Which Sonic was incredibly grateful for.

"Sonic."

Said hedgehog's ears perked up at his name being called, snapping out of his thoughts. "Y-yeah?" Although it didn't seem like it before, Sonic could tell now that Shadow's tone had a distinct power behind it. It was almost surreal.

"Why are you here? Why did you release me?"

"Well uh…" Since he was expecting Project Shadow to be a machine and not an actual _living being_, Sonic wasn't sure what to say. Robots were easy, they could be reprogrammed. Telling Shadow that the grandchild of his creator wanted him might be a bad idea. "I…don't have time to explain right now. My sis will tell you everything when we get outta here."

The black hedgehog crossed his arms, a skeptical look on his face. "So I'm going with you now?"

"Do you have anywhere else to go?" Hah! Got him there. Sonic's smug grin could rub him the wrong way but this wasn't the time to discuss that.

"…Point taken."

As if on cue, the alarm in the facility began to blare, covering Prison Island with a red light. "Looks like I've been found out." Manic had kept the guards longer than he thought but it looked like Sonic's time had finally run out. "We gotta get out of here!"

"Omega, we need an exit. Now," Shadow commanded the robot, pointing at a wall.

"Affirmative." In a flash, Omega's cannon was out and the robot promptly blew a large hole into the wall, leading to the outside. Short, sweet, and effective.

"Lead the way, Sonic."


End file.
